Improvement in safe and vault doors



M ZSheets-SheetZ. M. BRI'GGS.

SAFE AND VAULT DUUR. 1gb-159,337. Patented Nov. Z, 1875.

um c/ Mn ss ed..

H ma

N- PETERS. PHOTO-LTHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON, D C.

dettano STATE-s MARTIN BRIGGS, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN SAFE AND VAULT DOORS.-

speeifeetien forming part ef Lettere Patent Ne.v 169,337. dated November 2, 1815 application filed September 6, 1875.

To all whom t may concern.'

i Be it known that I, MARTINBRIGGS, of the city of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented a certain new and usef'ul Improvement in .Safe and Vault Doors; and I do hereby declare that the following -is a full, clear, andexact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which-l Figure l is an elevation, showing the outside of the door. Fig. 2 is a similar view, showing the inside of the door. Fig. 3 is 'a horizontal section. stop arrangement. l y

My improvement relates to a screw-door attached to a swinging fahne, so that when unscrewed from the safe thil door may be turned back ont of the way, like an ordinary swinging door. Such doors have before been known having two distinct threads, one of which en ters the plating of the safe to secure the door in place, and the other screws forward and backward in the swinging arm or frame, to sustain the door as it is opened. The great objection to such doors is, that the screw that rests inthe swinging frame is situated centrally of the door, and is of small size, being simply a screw-stem, so that it lies in the way of applying a lock upon the door, with the knob. spindle, or key' projecting outward through the door, and necessitates the application ofthe lock upon the safeinstead 0f the door. A still greater objection is, that this small screw-stem has to vsustain the whole weight of the door when'unscrewed from the safe, and in burglar-proof safes of large size, having doors weighing several hundred pounds, the door will sag, so that the thread whiohenters the safe will not engage with its fellow. So great has been this difficulty that such' doors have not gone into use, especially on burglarproof work having heavy doors.

To obviate this difficulty I construct my door with the outer thread of the largest diameter to fit in the swinging frame, whereby the whole surface of the door is left free for the lock and spindle or key, and no sagging can occur when the hinges are made sufliciently strong to hold the door in place.

My invention consists in such construction Fig. 4 is a view of the i of the door, and in other parts, which will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

A represents the pla-ting of a burglar-proof safe. B is the screw-door. .O is the swinging frame. D is the lock. The dooris of circular form,vand is out with two threads, a b, the first of which screws in to the safe, while the latter screws into the swinging frame. The yframe C is hung to the safe by hinges c c, of suita. ble form, and these hinges requireonly to be made of sufficient strength to hold the weight vof the door, and prevent sagging when the door is open.' The outer threadb is of the largest diameter, so that the whole face of the door is unimpeded, by which means thevv lock may be applied directly upon the inner face of the door, as shown, and the spindle or key may pass out centrally, thereby avoiding the necessity of applying the lock to the safe,'as has heretofore been done,` and also holding the door, when open, so rmly that no sagging can occur, and thereby insuring the engagement of the threads in the safe. This is ofthe vutmost importance, since the threads are so small that even slight sagging will prevent their engagement. lThe size and pitch of the inner and outer threads must be the same to insure proper action. The door is provided with handles or levers d d, by which it is turned. Another advantage of making the outer thread of the greatest diameter is, that these handles cannot b'e turned without interfering with the swinging frame, which occurs where a central screw-stern is used. The safe and door are provided with a series of steps or offsets, ff, which shut together and form an indirect joint, that prevents the entrance of gunpowder or wedges. E is a ring, which is bolted or screwed to the jamb on the inside of the safe, and is cut with a thread to receive the inner thread a of the inner ring of the door. In burglar-proof safes this is necessary, since the plating is made of steel, or alternate steel and iron, plates, and the thread cannot be cut in this, owing to its extreme hardness, resisting tools of all kinds, and also to the fact that the joints of the plates spring more or less, which would throw thev threads ont of place. By the use of this independent ring of iron the attachment of the door is readily made clear to the inside of the safe. In

` at the top and bottom.

Ving on the inside.

order` toiit the hard steel door into the plating `it is necessary to grind it in "with emery,

which makes a close joint, and in such case it wouldbe impossible to cut a thread in the plating itself", hence the ring E must be used. g are two keepers or sockets, which receive the lock-bolt.`` The outer one, g, is madefast `to the ring E, while the inner one, g', is attached to the inner ring of the door, and revolves with the door, and retains the bolt at all times. In locking and unlocking, the bolt 4simply throws into and out of the outer keeper, and rides around in the inner keeper. The

`use ofthe inner keeper g is specially to prevent wrenching strain being brought to bear upon the lock-bolt in turning the door. This it does by the close binding of the two keepers upon the bolt, expending the power upon the bolt, instead of bringing it to bear as a le- `verlnpon the lock-works, as would be the case ifthe outer keeper were alone used. This is of much importance, since great power is brought to bear upon the door by burglars, and the whole strain must be resisted by the lock-bolt. h h are two stops,.attached to the outside of the swinging frame, respectively, t' is a projecting arm attached to the revolving door, and designed to @be used in connection with these stops. The upper stop his simply a short pin or stud, `which projects from the frame. The lower stop h is a right-angled lug, having the open- The outward projection of the lower stop is greater than that of the upper one.

`l `In screwing the door into place the armi runs free ofthe stop h till it is fully entered, when it strikes the said stop, as shown in Fig. 1, and thereby gages the position of the lockbolt with the outer keeper g, when it may be thrown therein, and thereby lock the door. In the reverse or back rotation of the door the armi runs Within the opening of thegright` angled stop la. -till'the doorisjfullyopen, when` it cornes in coincidence with and strikes the said stop, thereby preventing unnecessary; movement, and preventing the door from be-1 ing disengaged from the swinging frame.

I am aware that stops havebefore been used in connection with the turning door, but dif` ferently arranged frommine, and I claim noth-` ing more than the special arrangement as above described.

I do not claim, broadly, a double-threaded door, hinged in a swinging frame; neither do I claim, broadly, stops `for gaging the forward and backward movement of the door; but

I claim- 1. The combination, withthe swinging frame C, of the door B, constructed withthe threads l 'c b, the outer thread being ofthe greatest di j ameter, and engaging withthefframe, thereby 1 l having the face of the door free `for the pas-` I i sage of the spindle or key, and forming a lirm i support for the door, to prevent sagging, as C shown and described.

2. In a burglar-proof safe, the combination, y

with the plating A and screwdoor B, ofthe independent ring attached on the inside of the "l i safe, and provided with a `threadfor the `reception ofthe screw c, as shown and described,

and for the purpose specified. y

' 3. The combination,`with the screw-door B and swinging' frame G, of the arm and stops h h', projecting unequally from the frame, the

lower stop constructed of right-angled form, i i

in the manner andfor thepurpose specified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed y my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

`MARTIN BRIGGS.

Witnesses:

R. F. OsGooD, E. B. Soo'r'r. 

